Animosity
by emma.likes.to.write
Summary: Little Russia, at first, is excited about having a new younger sister. But when she begins to live at the house with him, he learns what it really means to be a big brother, and he becomes not-so-keen on having a little sister as his childish feelings of jealousy grow. (Oneshot)


Russia pressed his large, babyish nose to the window. He breathed in and out rapidly, and as he did so little breaths of air were stained onto the window near his mouth. He was waiting in anticipation for his older sister to return—and for his new little sister to arrive.

Ukraine had told Russia about the upcoming event a few days prior. She'd said that they would be getting a new little sister, and that the little girl was going to be living with them. Russia hadn't known what to expect. He was never around other children to get first-hand knowledge, so he was unaware of the prospects of a younger sibling. He did know, however, that the girl would be a nation like him and Ukraine. Today was the day she was going to bring her home.

The little boy immediately raced to the door when he caught sight of his older sister out the window (the other girl was so tiny that Russia couldn't even see her through the window, so he couldn't get a peek at her) and as he heard the sound of her soft but loud footsteps nearing.

Russia jumped up and down with a giddiness that only a young child could possess as he waited for Ukraine to open the door. When she did so, the small nation immediately and instinctively went up to hug her, as he'd always done when she returned home, grateful that she'd made it safely. The eldest smiled, hummed contently, and patted his small head. Russia then pulled back to get a look at his new little sister.

She was a tiny thing, barely reaching Ukraine's waist, and she wore a heavy dark blue coat with black buttons. Russia could see the bottom of a red-pink dress, or skirt, covering her legs, and she wore black dress shoes with straps on her tiny feet. She had shoulder-length baby-blonde hair, so light in color that it was almost white, with big dark blue eyes that looked up at her brother with the upmost curiousity. Her mouth was set in a thin line. Her skin was pale, almost unnaturally so, except for her cheeks, ears, and dainty nose, which were stained a deep blotchy pink. Atop her head was a blue ribbon tied into her fine hair. She carried a stuffed bear and baby blue blanket, hugging them to her little stomach and chest.

Russia was immediately awed by her cuteness, her China-doll appearance. "Russia," Ukraine began. "This is Belarus. She's our new little sister."—as if he hadn't already guessed that—"You must treat her kindly," she added a bit sternly.

"I will," Russia promised his big sister, whom he would do anything for, because he loved and adored her. He placed his hands on his knees, and hunkered down to the little girl's level. "Hello. I'm your big brother, Russia!" he exclaimed in his best baby-talk voice. He held out his chubby hand for the girl to touch.

Belarus seemed awed just to look at the boy; her eyes grew glassy and her lips parted slightly. She placed her hand gingerly into his larger one. Russia smiled, looking up at Ukraine. "I think she likes me, Big Sister."

Ukraine beamed. "I think she does, too."

"I like her, too," Russia said, and he wrapped his arms around the tiny girl, careful not to hurt her, for she looked so delicate and fragile. He felt he was really going to get the hang of this "big brother" thing.

••••••••

A few hours later, the duo that was now a trio sat down for some supper. This event of the day usually brought about mixed feelings for little Russia—he loved to eat his favorite foods, and dessert; however, like most young children, he was not keen on eating his veggies, or anything else that looked "gross" or "weird". The amount of time Ukraine would spend at the table disciplining the boy and talking sternly to him depended heavily on what was being served that evening.

Tonight was one of those nights, apparently. Russia looked at the food, his face wrinkling in disgust. Chicken in a mushroom sauce with beets—_yuck. _Ukraine served Belarus first, who had a small bib tucked into her shirt, giving her a tiny slice of chicken with a dainty serving of beets arranged neatly on her plate. Then Russia—Ukraine gave him a big slice of the meat and a huge spoonful of the purple veggies.

Russia immediately took notice of the portion difference. "Heeeey..." he began to draw out, pointing at Belarus' plate, "why do I have to get more food than _her?" _

Ukraine smiled at him kindly, and patted his hair. "That's just because she's little, dear," she explained. She tapped his boyish chest lightly. "And you're bigger than her, so you have to eat more. You want to grow up to be a big, strong country, don't you?"

Russia sulked, crossing his arms over his chest and swinging his legs lightly. "I guess so," he grumbled.

His big sister pushed the plate closer to him. "Eat up, then." There was a hint of admonishment in her voice.

The little nation let out a grumble, nibbling on a piece of chicken, as he watched his big sister get her own plate.

Supper continued. Russia grew even more cross as he saw Ukraine do babyish things to Belarus to encourage the small girl to eat, spoon-feeding her like she was a dumb baby, and clapping excitedly each time she ate a big spoonful.

_Dumb little kid, _Russia thought to himself. _Big Sister doesn't even clap when _I _eat. And I'm eating twice as much as Belarus is. _He put another gulp of beets (bleh!) into his mouth.

After supper was over, Ukraine cleaned the plates and leaned over to make Belarus' face clean using the back of her bib. Russia glared at the little girl even as she stared at him curiously with big blue eyes. _Stupid little girl keeps staring at me. I don't like it. _

Ukraine finally looked at Russia then. "You ate most of your food! Good boy." She ruffled his hair. The little boy closed his eyes and leaned in closer to her, missing this kind of attention.

She smiled. "Ready for dessert?"

"_Yes!" _Russia squealed.

"Okay." She gave her little brother a plentiful slice out of a cake she'd baked, while handing Belarus a bottle of milk, a tiny piece of the cake, and sending her off to play.

Russia was surprised at this. "Belarus only gets that much dessert?"

Big Sister nodded. "Large amounts of sweets isn't good for little kids. Especially at night."

Russia smiled inwardly as he dug into his slice. That was _one _good thing that came with being older.

••••••••

Later that night came bathtime. One of the best parts of Russia's day. Here, he could play and splash in the big tin tub Ukraine would bring out, and let his body be warmed and soaked by the sparse hot water doled out especially for this moment.

Ukraine removed her little brother's clothes and he immediately headed for the tub. _Ahhh... _the boy sighed with pleasure, closing his eyes and rubbing his body to better enjoy the water.

However, his happiness was short lived when he caught sight of his big sister, as she began to undress..._her. _"Does _she _have to get a bath with _me?" _he asked, voice high-pitched.

"Yes," Ukraine answered, placing Belarus into the bath next to her brother. Russia looked down at his little sister sitting next to him and scowled. The girl met his glare, and though she didn't smile (she never did), she seemed content and happy just to be by him. She scooted closer to him so that they brushed against each other and began to splash lightly.

"Awww..." Big Sister sighed out, "she wants to be close to you, Little Brother!"

He didn't respond.

Belarus continued to splash and explore the warm waters of the tub as Ukraine washed both their bodies, and hair, using an old rag. She ordered both of them to close their eyes tightly as she doused water onto their heads to make them clean.

One time Belarus splashed hard enough to get bits of water on Ukraine, making her giggle and clap her hands, and congratulate the small girl for being so strong. Russia, knowing he could splash harder than that, flapped his arms to make even bigger splashes while Ukraine had her back turned.

Instead of compliments, or congratulations, Russia, to his surprise, felt a hard smack delivered to the back of his head. He turned and met eyes with his big sister, who glared at him as she'd never done before. "You're making the floor wet," she hissed at him. "Do it again and you'll be out of the tub."

Angered and a bit saddened by this reaction from Ukraine (not to mention the back of his head stung from the hit), Russia sat silent the rest of bathtime, quietly sticking his thumb in his mouth as he continued to glare at Belarus with envy. He watched in scorn as Ukraine cuddled her cheek close to the little girl's, although the toddler seemingly tried to pull away from her elder sister, and attempted to nuzzle up to her brother instead. Russia inched farther from her until he was leaning against the edge of the tub.

He used to be Big Sister's little boy. He remembered how he used to splash when he was smaller, and she'd giggled and clapped, just as she'd done with Belarus. Why not now? Was there something wrong with him now? _She hates me, _Russia thought gruffly. _She loves that little girl more than me now. _

That night, before Russia went to bed, Ukraine silently stole into his room, and caught him lying face down, small fists against the sides of his head, as if he had been crying. She crept closer to him, sighed a bit, and then smiled. "Russia, dear, I'm sorry for hitting you," she apologized. "I realize now that that was wrong of me. And I'm sorry for that."

Russia didn't answer, only grunted.

"Does the boo-boo still hurt?" she asked warmly, cocking her head to the side to try to get a peek at her little brother's face. "Do you want me to kiss it to make it feel better?"

A muffled reply came from the small boy.

"What was that, dear?"

"No!" he shouted as he lifted his head up and gave his sister a sideways glare.

Ukraine furrowed her brows together angrily. "Excuse me?"

"I said no," Russia repeated, now a hint of sadness in his voice, before again adopting a harsh tone. "Just go into Belarus' room. I know you love her more anyway." The way he said it stung Ukraine's heart deeply.

She froze, got up, and headed toward the door. "Fine then," she said, voice cracking. "No bedtime story for you."

"I don't care."

Ukraine shut the door behind her, trying her best to stop her glossy eyes from flowing with tears.

••••••••

The next day, early in the afternoon, Ukraine bundled up the kids in heavy winter coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and boots and sent them outside to play as a special treat.

Russia, to say the least, didn't particularly enjoy the fact that he'd been told to look after Belarus, and that he had to play with her. He became even more angry when his baby sister tried to grab onto his hand, and she attempted to hug him a couple of times. "No," Russia growled sternly at her. "Get away." Her little face looked sad, but still she continued to stick to her big brother like a lost puppy.

He hated the way she kept jumping and skipping about, the way she stayed so close to his tail that her head kept bumping into his back. Russia growled again after a few minutes of her doing this and reached down to harshly pinch her face. "Stop!" he snarled.

Belarus' facial expression changed instantly from content to hurt as she gingerly touched her cheek with one gloved hand and began to whine. Weakly, she held out her arms towards her big brother, aching for some comfort.

Russia angrily pushed them away. "STOP IT!" he shouted. "Go away! I don't wanna play with you—I hate you!" And with that he shoved the poor little girl onto the ground, right into the tall snow.

Belarus immediately began to howl. This was the cue for Ukraine to hurriedly run outside and to pick up her little sister, who took two fistfuls of her big sister's coat and bawled into her chest. "RUSSIA!" Ukraine yelled, disbelieving. "That was a mean thing you did!"

"I DON'T CARE!" the little boy yelled. "I CAN'T STAND HER! Why did she even have to come live with us in the first place?" Suddenly starting to cry, he left the scene and ran into their tiny log house.

He flew into the corner—knowing beforehand that was most likely the place Ukraine would order him to go—sat down, folding his arms together and bawled into his heavy jacket.

Russia heard his sisters come in, heard Ukraine unzip Belarus' coat and whisper "shhh..." comfortingly into the little girl's ear. She sat her down on the small sofa and tiptoed over to where her little brother cried.

"Russia, dear," she cooed, touching his soft hair.

The boy couldn't take it any longer. He threw his arms around his older sister and clung to her for dear life. Warily he opened his eyes and began to chew on his thumb. She picked him up as she'd done when he'd been Belarus' size and patted him, grunting a bit, and kissed him softly on the cheek. She went to sit on the sofa with her brother perched in her lap.

"I love you," she told him tenderly.

He sniffled loudly. "Why does she have to live with us?" He pointed at Belarus accusingly. "It's not fair!"

"Because she's little and she needs us, dear," Ukraine explained. "Please, try to put yourself in her shoes. Would you want to be stuck in a cold, new country all by yourself, being that little?"

A memory flashed through Russia's vast mind. It was of him, walking into this very house for the first time. He remembered shivering, so scared, so shy, so cold, and clinging tightly to this strange large girl who was supposed to be his sister. She'd let him inside, to his bed, to the kitchen, which smelled like cake and chicken. He remembered having his first bath; he'd never felt warmth before—it had felt so good to not be cold. He remembered his first meal, how delicious it had tasted. He remembered giggling for the first time when Ukraine wiped his face clean after supper with her fingers, cracking some joke. "No," he told his sister shakily.

Just then, little Belarus lifted her arms, flinching a bit because she didn't want to be pushed again. She touched the tears on his cheeks with her finger, as if she thought that would make them disappear, and furrowed her faint brows. "Cry?" she squeaked out. "Big Brother cry?"

Smiling warmly, Ukraine reached down and put her arms around her small waist. "Yes, Big Brother's a little sad, dear, but he'll be okay."

Belarus, not one hundred percent reassured by this, whimpered a bit and wrapped her arms around the bigger boy. "Awww. How sweet. She loves you so much, Little Brother," Ukraine said. She smiled broadly. "You know, whenever she wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, the first place she wants to go is your room. She tries to open your door and sleep in your bed with you until I stop her."

"Really?" Russia was genuinely surprised.

Ukraine nodded. "And whenever you go outside to play on your own, she wanders around the house, calling your name, wondering where you are."

"Oh." He really didn't know how to respond to that. He looked at the little girl wrapped around him, clinging to him like a vice. He cuddled into her closer. She felt quite warm, actually. Her soft blonde hair felt nice on his arm, and she had a sweet baby smell. He thought for the first time in a while that having a little sister probably wasn't that bad.

He buried his face in her hair. "I love her too, actually," he admitted, face turning a bit red. "And I'm sorry for hitting her."

Ukraine told him that that was lovely to hear. She wrapped her arms around both her siblings and cuddled them to her chest, where they both seemed to fit best.

"Can we be together forever?" Little Russia squeaked. Ukraine looked down and smiled, though shakily. Russia—he'd always been the ones with the more difficult questions to answer.

"Yes, of course we can," she whispered in reply, only hoping that she was speaking the truth.

The trio stayed like this in their warm embrace for well over a few minutes, until the small boy jumped up from his big sister's lap. "I wanna go back outside to play!" he shrieked, racing for the door.

Belarus wailed helplessly, and held out her arms towards her older brother. Ukraine let her go, and she ran towards Russia, so she could go outside with him. "You two be careful!" Ukraine called. "And Russia, watch out for your sister!"

"Okay!" came the little-voiced reply.

Content, Ukraine got up and went to the kitchen to prepare some hot cocoa for the kids for when they got back inside.

While outside, Russia and Belarus were building their own separate snow forts, and they were going to have a snowball fight. At least, in Russia's mind they were. He wasn't sure if Belarus knew how to play. He comtemplated reaching out to help her build her fort, but decided against it—he wasn't quite keen on being _too _nice to her. Not yet. And anyway, he wanted his fort to be better than hers, so he could win the snowball fight.


End file.
